John Schlesinger's screen adaptation of Stan Barstow's 'kitchen-sink' novel tells a gritty story of love in an industrial Lancashire town. Draftsman Vic Brown (Alan Bates) sleeps with Ingrid (June Ritchie), a young typist who works at the same factory as him, but soon loses interest in her. When she discovers that she is pregnant, Vic finds himself burdened with unwanted family responsibilities and an interfering mother-in-law (Thora Hird). But despite these circumstances, Vic and Ingrid try to find a way of living together, working their way towards 'a kind of loving'.